Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI), a new artificial intelligence startup associated with AI researcher Yann LeCun, has raised $1.03 billion in funding as it works on building a new type of AI system designed to better understand the real world.
The company is trying to move beyond traditional AI models by developing systems that can reason, remember information over time, and plan actions, rather than just generating responses based on text patterns.
The funding round was co-led by Cathay Innovation, Greycroft, Hiro Capital, HV Capital, and Bezos Expeditions, the investment firm of Jeff Bezos. Other investors taking part in the round include Toyota Ventures, Temasek, SBVA, Nvidia, Mark Cuban, Association Familiale Mulliez, Groupe industriel Marcel Dassault, Sea, and Alpha Intelligence Capital.
AMI said the investment will help it continue building AI systems based on what researchers describe as “world models.” The idea behind this approach is to give machines a better understanding of how the physical world works. By doing this, AI systems could keep track of past experiences, make better decisions, and plan steps toward completing tasks.
LeCun has often spoken about the limitations of current large language models. In his view, systems that mainly rely on text data cannot fully reach human-like intelligence. Instead, he believes future AI needs to develop a deeper understanding of the world around it.
The startup currently operates in Paris, New York, Montreal, and Singapore, and says it is expanding its team of researchers and engineers as work on the technology continues.
AMI was founded in 2025, shortly after LeCun stepped down from his role as Chief AI Scientist at Meta, where he led the Facebook AI Research (FAIR) lab for more than ten years.
The company is led by Alex LeBrun, co-founder of the healthcare AI startup Nabla, who serves as CEO. LeCun is involved as the executive chairman and helps guide the company’s long-term research direction.
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